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DENVER – For years, this group of Erie volleyball players has spent time staring up at banners in their gym that reminded them of how the volleyball team at Erie had not been to the state tournament since 1994.
The Tigers can finally put all that talk to bed.
At the Denver Coliseum on Thursday, the Tigers took the Class 4A court as the No. 7 seed to officially make their return to the state tournament after 25 years of waiting. Then they won their first match, 22-25, 25-16, 25-16, 21-25, 15-10 over No. 10 Cheyenne Mountain, to become the first team in Erie volleyball history to win a match at a state championship tournament.
“It feels like we broke a trend and are setting a new one,” Tigers senior setter Jessica Amend said. “It feels awesome to be working for it my freshman year all the way up to my senior year and then finally being here and getting that first win. We talked about making that change and how this was our year a lot.
“We had two moments when it hit us that we were good enough to be going to state. The first one was this morning when we walked through our school with everyone clapping and cheering for us. The second one was winning that match.”
Amend added that the Tigers played their first match relatively pressure-free knowing that there weren’t many, if any, external expectations for them to win and advance. They looked loose despite their first match having to be decided by a back-and-forth fifth set.
Senior Kate Sebesta led the Tigers with 15 kills, fellow senior Addyson Huber had 11, and junior Peyton Michaelson and sophomore Maggie Olson each had eight. Senior Skye Ramsey led the Tigers with 10 digs and Amend had 48 assists.
“We focus on having fun and trusting each other, and putting ourselves in hard situations in our practice gym so that when we come down here it’s the fun part,” Erie head coach Molly Creek said. “We came down here early so we could breathe it all in and enjoy it. Then we came out just ready to go.”
Because of the state tournament running behind schedule in several classifications, the Tigers’ second-round match against No. 2 Montrose was not completed before press time.
The first day of the double-elimination Olympic crossover bracket was less kind to the Mead squad. The Mavericks entered the tournament as the No. 4 overall seed in 4A and had a first-round bye. In the second round, they lost 25-23, 21-25, 25-17, 25-15 to No. 5 Coronado, and will be in danger of elimination when they take on No. 11 Thomas Jefferson at 8 a.m. on Friday.
In Class 5A, No. 5-seeded Broomfield lost 25-17, 25-18, 25-19 to No. 12 Highlands Ranch in the first round. Senior Hope Hanak-Harper led Broomfield with six kills and senior Kristina Consbruck had 17 assists. The Eagles will play No. 6 Rampart in the first round of the elimination bracket at 12:30 p.m. on Friday.
